Apple: 100 billion in new spending in the US. Trump: 100% tariffs on chips for those not investing in America

It wasn't actually a random gift: Cook promised that in future the glass for all the company's iPhones and Apple Watch in the world will be American, baked in Kentucky. "The glass comes from Corning plants. It's etched for President Trump. It was designed by a former Merines corporal. And the 24-carat base is from Utah,' he said, describing the tribute with an obvious effort not to overlook any of the President's favourite tastes - made in the USA, yellow metal, military strength.

Trump showed his appreciation: 'Let's do things now in the US instead of in other countries, in other distant countries'. Cook asserted that he intends to create a supply chain in the US for his chips producing 19 billion microprocessors as early as 2025, thanks to several large partners and the role of 24 factories in twelve states. Although this will not mean that a flagship product like the iPhone will actually be made in the US: analysts indicate that there is a lack of engineers and skilled workers for such a goal and that it would lead to a prohibitive doubling of the price of iPhones to two thousand dollars each.

The effectiveness of the administration's entire reindustrialisation strategy, however, remains a matter of intense debate - the reality and implementation of many investments announced to date is considered less than transparent - even if it lends itself to sound-bite announcements. In the case of Apple, White House spokesman Taylor Rogers stated that Trump 'has already secured trillions of dollars in investments that support American jobs and strengthen American business. The announcement with Apple is another victory for our manufacturing that will simultaneously help bring critical parts production back home and thus protect economic and national security'.

Apple's first domestic spending announcement of 500 billion had been made in February, including a new factory in Texas. In May, however, Trump had again threatened sanctions against the company in the absence of sufficient business reshoring.

Certainly Apple, which boasts a global manufacturing chain, has an interest in coming to terms with the administration. It has so far reported additional costs from tariffs in the past quarter of 800 million and expected damages of a further 1.1 billion in the current three months. All US tech could also be affected by incoming tariffs on ubiquitous semiconductors as well as higher tariffs on imports from key countries such as India and China. On the stock market, Apple's stock gained 5.5 per cent.

On the other hand, it is premature to assess the White House's broader claims on reshoring and evidence, if anything, is lacking. Several experts point out that despite the fact that average effective US tariffs on imports have now risen from 2.3% to over 18%, for many companies producing in America remains too complicated (shocks to sophisticated global supply chains) and costly, for reasons ranging from labour conditions to the strength of the dollar. "Companies are generally not rushing to reshoring," concluded an analysis in the Wall Street Journal.

More than the most spectacular announcements also appear partly image efforts, re-presenting already existing spending plans (Apple's original 500 billion). Apple also continues to invest far more on an international scale. Other commitments are laden with mortgages, such as the future funding behind an OpenAI-led venture. Although a list kept by the White House reports investments of more than 2.5 trillion.

The only certainty of Trump's tough trade policy appears at the moment to be the resources collected by customs for the Treasury, which have almost doubled to 127 billion this year, while remaining far from the goal of eventually replacing income taxes. Decreases in the trade deficit, which are of doubtful value, do not appear sustainable to most because exports and not only imports will fall in the future. Even a fall in prices promised by Trump is, if anything, disproved: the cost of living is rising, for now moderately but amid risks of acceleration.